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"Heavy wet snow is expected during both Thursday commutes, with a moderate impact on Thursday morning commute and a high impact to Thursday evening commute," the National Weather Service warned.

"This is going to get started between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., but there will be a quick change to rain along the coast," said StormTeam 5 meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon. "However, heavy wet snow will be an issue all day long for the interior."

When the snow is falling the heaviest, snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible.

There is the potential for snow amounts of 6 to 12 inches across western and central Massachusetts and the potential for 3 to 6 inches along and just east of Interstate 495 with much lesser amounts or rain to the south and east.

The immediate Boston area should see just 1 to 3 inches of snow before a change to rain.

"Where we do see a lot of heavy rain along the coastline, poor drainage is a concern. Heavy winds along the interior could lead to scattered power outages, too," Fitzgibbon said.

The main concern for flooding is during the Thursday high tide art around 11 p.m.

"Likely only pockets of minor coastal flooding mainly from Scituate north to Salisbury on the northeast facing beaches," the NWS warned.

With 15- to 20-foot waves just offshore, erosion is the bigger threat to the coast.

The NWS issued a winter storm warning for much of the state, but the population centers inside Route 128 and southeastern Massachusetts are not included in the watch area.

NSTAR says Thursday's storm poses special concerns because of range of precipitation forecast for the company's service area. All the major utility companies -- NSTAR, National Grid and Unitil -- plan to have emergency teams standing by.

NSTAR spokesman Mike Durand said coastal customers could see outages from high winds and rain, while those inland face heavy wet snow.

Durand said continued tree trimming operations and lighter consistency snow have kept outages down so far this winter season. But Thursday's storm could be one of the larger tests even though it's not considered a major storm.

Here are the things to know:

1. Snow will likely develop along the south coast toward daybreak Thursday, with the heavier snow begin around 8 a.m. for most of the area.

2. The beginning of the Thursday morning commute should not be affected, but the end of the commute will likely see impact, especially south of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

3. The storm will last all day and not end until early Friday morning.

4. Snow will change to a wintry mix and then rain south and east of the Hartford - Worcester - Boston line from the morning into the afternoon.

5. The precipitation likely remains all snow west of the 495 corridor.

6. The heaviest snowfall will come Thursday afternoon and evening across western and central Massachusetts, where a significant impact to the Thursday evening commute is likely.

7. Rain will change back to snow overnight in most of Massachusetts before ending. Minor additional accumulation is possible.

8. Northeast winds of 35 to 45 mph are forecast, but gusts of up to 50 mph are possible along the coast, which could cause power outages.

9. Tides are astronomically low, but there may be minor coastal flooding along east-facing shorelines during the Thursday night high tide. Beach erosion is a concern due to the high seas just offshore.